The Long Siege: How the Hundred Years' War Ended
116 years of war between England and France — and how a peasant girl, cannons and exhaustion finally ended it.
How one event spilled into the next
A claim to the French crown
Edward III of England claims France; war begins.
Orléans is relieved
Joan of Arc revives French morale and crowns Charles VII at Reims.
Castillon ends it
England loses all of France except Calais; the war fades out without a treaty.
Two nations, two languages
The war hardened separate English and French identities that endure.
Did you know?
The 'Hundred Years' War' actually lasted 116 years, broken by long truces and plague.
Joan of Arc lifted the siege of Orléans at 17 and was burned at 19; she was later declared a saint.
There was no grand peace treaty — the war simply stopped after France won at Castillon in 1453.
Cannons, not knights, decided the end: French artillery smashed English lines and castle walls.
Key figures
- Joan of ArcTurned the tide at Orléans
- Henry VEnglish victor at Agincourt
- Charles VIIFrench king who won the war
Where this comes from
- Jonathan Sumption, The Hundred Years War (5 vols., 1990–2023)
- Helen Castor, Joan of Arc: A History (2014)
Dates marked by tradition or legend are given as approximate.
Other sides of the story
Gathering perspectives…
What do you remember?
Preparing your quiz…
Every border, every spillover
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